Life in the Fastlane
by walkingproof
Summary: Street racing wasn't something she wanted to experience until her roommate dragged her to one. She ends up realizing that it's nothing like the movies and that the bad boys can be the ones with the biggest hearts
1. Chapter 1

Clarke glanced at herself in the mirror. Raven had managed to push her out of her comfort zone for tonight. She had promised Raven last month that she would finally go watch her race. The fact that it was illegal didn't sit with her well but she eventually gave up that argument after watching Raven's face light up when she would talk about it. Since the Finn fiasco she hadn't been smiling much and that's how she ended up here in black skinny jeans that were just a little too low and a little too tight. The shirt was too low for her liking and hugged her curves and while this isn't something she would normally wear it was hard not to admit that she looked hot.

"Clarke get your sexy ass out here, it's time to go." Clarke looked at the clock, it was already eleven o'clock. She took one more look at herself in the mirror.

"It's only one night." she told herself, "we're doing this for Raven."

"Clarke!"

Clarke jumped at the sudden yelling. She grabbed her phone and license; she didn't want to carry a purse. She walked out of her bedroom and could see Raven standing by the door with her arms crossed. Of course Raven was just dressed in a tight t-shirt and some jeans. It took a lot of arguing for Clarke to agree to wear this after Raven claimed she would stick out like a sore thumb and everyone would stare at her. Clarke not being one to welcome attention decided to follow her best friend's advice.

It took all of thirty minutes to get there. She hated Raven's bucket seats in her car and it felt odd having the back seat completely gutted. Raven pulled up and parked into a line with a bunch of other cars. It honestly looked like an independent film version of Fast and the Furious that was close to reaching the end of their budget. She snorted at her own thoughts and Raven raised an eyebrow at her before getting out of the car and walking around to the front of her hood. Clarke soon followed and walked up to Raven and she leaned her hip against the front of Raven's car.

"So what now?" Clarke looked around and there were about thirty to forty people mingling, some were drinking other's weren't.

"Well I have to find Bellamy and give him my share." She watched Raven pull out a wad of money. Clarke learned awhile back to not ask where she got that kind of money. "Will you be okay by yourself for a few minutes?"

"Yeah." Truthfully she didn't want to be left alone but she also didn't want to look like a lost puppy following Raven around. She watched as Raven left and Clarke folded her arms across her chest and looked out over all the people. She felt so out of place but she found this group of people oddly interesting. It was like watching a family reunion or something. Her eyes roamed her surroundings and fell on the building behind everyone. She saw the letters sprawled across it _Miller and Sons Auto Shop_.

"Well I haven't seen you around here." She looked to her left and saw a guy with a hooked nose and noticed his eyes looked at her body from top to bottom. "You must be my divine intervention for the night." His voice made Clarke's skin crawl.

"I doubt it." Clarke said dryly. She wasn't in the mood to deal with anyone; she was here for one reason and one reason only. To support Raven and then get home and binge watch Netflix until she passed out.

The guy raised his eyebrow and took a step closer, "I could get us out of here, take you to my place nearby and give you a night you won't ever forget." He ran his hand down the curve of her side resting on her hip.

Clarke scoffed, "You've got a hand, which I can promise you will be the only action you'll be getting tonight."

"You've got a mouth on you, I bet-"

"Murphy!" She watched as the guy turned around. Clarke's eyes went to the girl walking over to them. The girl was in short shorts, combat boots, a tank and a plaid shirt tied around her waist. Clarke was jealous of the girl's hair. If only she could get her hair to look that good in a messy bun. The girl pulled the guy's shirt causing the guy to stumble away from them. "The girl is was out of your league, you want a level playing field go grab one of the whores congregated around my brother."

"Fuck you Octavia, the girl can make her own-" Clarke watched as the girl gave Murphy an elbow to the nose without even turning to look back at him. Her eyes were wide watching this girl that looked like she was 100 pounds soaking wet bring Murphy to his knees with blood running into his hand.

"Why don't you get one of the whore's to go nurse that injury?" Octavia held her hand out to Clarke, "I'm Octavia."

Clarke shook her hand, "Clarke." She peeked over Octavia's shoulder to see Murphy heading back over to the group of people she saw before.

"Ignore Murphy, he thinks he's God's gift to women. But from what I've heard God short changed him in a vital area." Clarke found herself laughing, "So are you here by yourself?"

Just as Clarke was about to answer Raven walked up, "Okay, we're good now. I wanted to take you to meet-"

"Hey hooker!" Raven turned around and smiled. Clarke watched as they fist bumped and Octavia swung her arm over Raven's shoulders.

"Clarke, meet Octavia." Raven looked between her two friends with a look of hope.

"You can call me O." Octavia smiled, "But we've met, Murphy tried to lure your girl home."

Raven laughed out loud, "I would have loved to see him try." she looked at Octavia, "Are you racing tonight?"

Octavia rolled her eyes, "It's my turn for flags."

Raven laughed and Clarke was confused and apparently it showed, "flags are the flag or makeshift flag that you bring down at the line for the race to start. Unfortunately O here picked the short straw." Clarke laughed as Octavia grumbled.

"Actually since I'm not racing tonight I was wondering if you could take a peek under my hood. I don't want Bellamy sniffing around, he'd probably change out a part to help him win."

"Why would some random guy come sniffing around your car?" Clarke asked and the looks she got made her embarrassed of her question.

"Bellamy is O's brother, he runs the races." Clarke made an o shape with her mouth and nodded.

Clarke turned at the sound of a deep voice carrying over the crowd, "Alright, we've got four racing tonight. Monty and Jasper just radioed back and the roads are blocked and ready to go. Get your shit and let's roll!" The small crowd cheered. And Clarke looked back to see both girls smiling.

"That's my cue." Raven gave Octavia a fist bump and turned to give Clarke a hug, "See you at the finish line" she winked and Clarke watched her walk away.

"You ready to see how we live?" Octavia smirked.

"Let's do this." Octavia cheered and Clarke laughed to herself but followed Octavia as she led the way into the sea of people. She walked through and she saw all different types of people. She could see why Raven fit in here.

"Jasper! Monty!" Octavia grabbed Clarke's hand and dragged her over to two guys.

"Hey O." They both smiled at the girl, "Raven tells me you drew the short straw tonight."

Octavia gave them both the finger before turning to Clarke, "Clarke this is Jasper and Monty, they work here at the garage with my brother."

The guy with the goggles hanging around his neck shook her hand, "Ravi de vous rencontrer" Clarke gave him a small smile before she dropped his hand. Clarke could see Octavia rolling her eyes.

"We need to go; otherwise Bellamy will start bitching at me." Octavia started walking towards the cars and Clarke followed. Once Octavia broke through the crowd Clarke saw four cars lined up behind a spray painted line. She smiled seeing Raven stand by her car talking to a guy that was definitely over six feet tall. When Clarke's eyes met Raven's she smiled and walked over to her with Octavia.

"Clarke this is my boyfriend." Octavia beamed, "well, secret boyfriend." Octavia winked.

"Clarke meet Bellamy's best friend Lincoln." Raven laughed and it fell into place for Clarke. From what she was getting it sounded like Bellamy was an overprotective controlling asshole.

"Someone say my name?" Clarke looked to her right. Her eyes raked over his body. From his dark brown curls to the gray t-shirt that stretched over his biceps. She could admit to herself that he was hot.

"Bell this is Clarke, Raven's friend that she's been talking about." Octavia smiled at her brother but Clarke noticed that she put some space between herself and Lincoln.

"Ah, the infamous hermit." Clarke felt her face heat up. "Glad you could join us rebels tonight." Bellamy winked at her and Clarke just raised an eyebrow.

"So are we ready?" Lincoln spoke and Clarke looked at him, he had a panty dropping kind of voice. She could see just one reason Octavia looked at him like he hung the moon. Yet it seemed Bellamy was clueless that his best friend and his sister were hooking up.

"Nah, Murphy showed up with a busted nose. Serves him right with the way he goes for girls who are spoken for while their guy is here." Bellamy shrugged. "He went inside the shop to clean up. Whoever busted his nose did one hell of a job." Clarke could see Octavia looking smug, obviously proud of herself.

"O you said you wanted me to look under your hood right?" Raven was walking towards what Clarke assumed was Octavia's car.

"Wait, why is Raven checking under your hood? You're here every day. I mean fuck you work here. I could have done it yesterday." Bellamy had his arms crossed.

"Because I'm so close to leaving your ass in the dust, and who knows what you'd pull." Octavia called over her shoulder as Lincoln decided to follow them leaving Clarke alone with Bellamy.

"Nice best friend you have."

"Nice sister you have." She challenged which caused him to raise an eyebrow at her.

"Well aren't you a spitfire." Clarke rolled her eyes, "So what did Reyes have to do to drag you out here? Steal your textbooks? Hold your schoolwork hostage?" Clarke didn't say a word, all she had to say she could express with her middle finger. Bellamy smirked, "Is that an offer?"

Her skin didn't crawl like it did when Murphy made the same innuendo. Instead she felt her face grow hot and she looked over at Octavia and Raven, who was already under the hood. "So when did all of this start?" She found herself asking.

"What do you mean?" Clarke just twirled her finger around motioning to all the people and cars, "Oh, It's pretty much been the same group of people for a long time. Reyes is probably the newest member. Your girl has skill, I'll give her that."

"So are you racing too?" Bellamy nodded. "So much is riding on this race anyways?"

Bellamy shrugged, "Not a lot, about three thousand."

"Three thousand? As in dollars?" It felt like her eyes had actually bulged out of her head.

"What else would it be in? Monopoly dollars?" his chuckle irritated her.

"How is that _not_ a lot of money?"

"Races can easily get up to at least eight thousand on a good night. I guess I don't really think about it being an obscene amount anymore." Clarke was speechless. Was he out of touch with reality? Because she could never imagine eight thousand dollars not being a lot of money and she came from a _very_ well to do family.

"Alright let's get this over with" a voice behind Clarke made her jump and she saw Murphy make his way towards his car not even sparing a glance at her, but she could see under his eyes was purple and his face was already swollen with a blood stained collar.

Bellamy laughed out loud "You look like shit Murphy."

"Fuck you!" Murphy got in his car and Bellamy called out to Octavia to round up everyone. Clarke just stood there as everyone started moving towards the lineup.

"Hey stay here, if you have any problems just yell for Jasper or Monty" Clarke nodded hearing Octavia yell over at her and she watched Octavia give her a wink from across a few cars as she walked out in front of the cars. She waited until everyone was in their car. It looked like it was going to be Raven, Murphy, Lincoln and Bellamy. She didn't know what to expect but she jumped hearing all the cars start up. Octavia pointed to each car and each revved its engine. She assumed this meant that they were ready.

"O use your bra!" Clarke turned and saw that Jasper was the one yelling as he stood up in his truck bed. Octavia gave him the finger but untied the plaid shirt from around her waist and held it up. Clarke chewed on her bottom lip, her stomach was doing somersaults. She was nervous and excited all at the same time, she had no idea what to expect. She watched as Octavia raised her shirt over her head using it as a flag. She held it there for a few seconds before bringing it down. She crouched and turned to watch all four cars shoot off the line and down the road. It didn't take long before all four cars were out of sight. Octavia stood up and walked towards Clarke her hair windblown but donning a huge smile on her face.

"Awesome isn't it?" Clarke couldn't help but smile with her. The girl's energy was contagious.

"So how long does the race normally last?"

Octavia shrugged, "Depends who's driving, but with Bell it's normally about four or five minutes."

Clarke didn't know if that was slow or fast, but it sounded really fast. Her eyes stayed on the street as Octavia explained that the track would loop all the way back around to here so they didn't have to go anywhere. They just had to sit and wait. After a few minutes Octavia bit her lip and bounced on her feet.

"You okay?"

"Yeah it's just that normally we start picking up the cones now from the roads so the cops are less likely to get called. Jasper asked me to go with him because Monty went to get food because he had the munchies."

"Go ahead, you can go. I'll be fine." Clarke waved her off.

"You sure?" she watched Octavia chew on her bottom lip.

"Yeah. Go." Clarke watched as Octavia gave her a smile and told her that she'd be right back. Clarke just stood there watching for the cars, it felt like forever but she was sure it was just her eagerness to see the end of the race. She watched Jasper's truck pull out onto the road with Octavia sitting on the side.

Clarke was bouncing on her toes the anticipation was killing her. "COPS!" Clarke spun around looking and everyone was splitting up and jumping in cars. She could hear the sirens off in the distant. She didn't have a car, Raven was her ride and she had absolutely no idea what to do. People were pulling out and she didn't know a single person. Everyone she knew was either racing or gone.

Clarke saw a black car screech to a stop in front of her. The door flew open, "Get in!" before Clarke had time to even make a decision her body was in the car and pulled away fast enough to throw her back against the seat.

Clarke looked over at Bellamy. His face was hard with concentration. Clarke's heart was still pounding in her chest. She never expected cops to show up, yet the adrenaline had her on a high that she had never felt before. She found herself smiling and eventually found herself laughing.

Bellamy turned his head to look at her, "You think this is funny?"

Clarke couldn't catch her breath but she was waving her hands and shaking her head no. But her body was betraying her. She couldn't stop the tears from forming in her eyes from laughing. "I'm sorry." she tried to get a grip of her giggles, "I've just never been through anything like that." She was trying to take deep breaths between each attempt talk. "I honestly don't know why I'm laughing."

Bellamy smirked, "It seems the hermit Princess experienced her first adrenaline rush."

Clarke's eyes widen seeing a cop car pulling towards the center of an intersection, "Bellamy!" Her hand went to his arm and Bellamy's attention shot back to driving and her breath hitched in her throat as Bellamy whipped his car to the right. The back of his car barely missing the cop car as he shifted and pushed the car even faster straightening them out.

"Clarke you can let go now." Bellamy said through a clenched jaw. Clarke looked at her hand and immediately removed it. He had nail marks on his arm where she was gripping him so tightly.

"I'm sorry!"

Bellamy laughed, "Its fine. Normally when I get feel nails digging into me, it's on my back while I'm fucking someone."

Clarke scrunched up her nose at his narcissism, but couldn't ignore the skip in her heartbeat. She leaned back watching Bellamy navigate the streets with ease, but she could still hear the sirens which kept her from getting pulled in at watching Bellamy drive.

"Does this happen every time you guys race?" Bellamy shook his head.

"Nah, I mean it happens every once in a while, but we try to keep it as low profile as we can. Jasper and Monty set up traffic cones at some intersections that cross into the route we take. But sometimes the cops come looking, that's why we have radios." He motioned to the one sitting in his cup holder, "If anyone sees the cops coming everyone knows to get out fast. Everyone has their own place they go so they don't follow one another and end up with all of us if they manage to follow us."

Clarke bit her lip, "Has anyone ever been caught?"

Bellamy's mouth thinned. "Miller, he um" He cleared his throat, "He flipped his car taking a turn while running. He was okay luckily, but they ended up taking him in. They gave him a deal, he could tell them what he knew about our club and he'd only get six months. He ended up telling them to go fuck themselves which ended with him serving a year." Bellamy was concentrating on the road but she could tell he could probably navigate these roads with his eyes closed. "He gets out in three months."

It made Clarke worry about Raven racing. She didn't know what she would do if her best friend ended up in jail. Bellamy looked over at her. He didn't say anything but after a moment put his attention back on the road, "If you're worried about Reyes don't. She's a great racer, probably better than most of the people that have been racing for years. She'd be able to ditch them easily. While her car doesn't have as much power as mine it can turn a corner on a pinpoint. It's actually pretty impressive." This made Clarke beam with pride.

"So where exactly are we going?" She had already gotten lost after about the ninth turn.

Bellamy smirked, "We're almost there."

Clarke looked out the window. They had been driving around for about a half hour and managed to get far enough to where they no longer heard sirens about fifteen minutes ago. She wasn't sure just how far the location he chose was. Her ears perked up once she heard the crunch of gravel under the tires. "Seriously where are-" her question was cut off when she saw his headlights shinning over a lake. "This is where you go?" she looked over at him and she watched him shrug as he came to a stop and turned the car off. He unbuckled the seatbelt and got out of the car. Clarke followed and had her hands wrapped around her as she walked towards the water. The moon was reflecting on the water. Her hands itched to draw it, but she of course had nothing to work with.

"You know I've come out here quite a few times and I've never met a single soul. I like to think this means that no one knows about it." She watched as Bellamy walked over to an old picnic table and sat on the table propping his feet on the bench. He waved her over, "Come on we've got some time to kill before we meet back up."

Clarke walked over and sat on the table. She barely knew this guy and here she was in the middle of the night by a lake. Like that wasn't weird or anything, but she didn't feel any uneasiness. Clarke actually felt very comfortable around Bellamy. "So, what got you into racing?" she looked over at him. His elbows were resting on his knees as he looked away.

"Sorry, you don't have to answer that."

Bellamy was shaking his head, "No it's alright." He cleared his throat and sat up resting back on his hands. "So I've known Miller all my life, he lived right down the street from me and O. It wasn't exactly the best neighborhood and after a few fights Miller's dad started inviting me over. He would have both me and Miller working on cars with him until it got dark. It kept us out of trouble and me and O didn't exactly have a father figure. Eventually O started tagging along once my mom picked up her second job. So all three of us would be over there and he would teach us everything he knew about cars." Bellamy smiled, "He always loved the fact that O didn't mind getting grease all the way up to her elbows. Hell she could probably install a carburetor blindfolded. But the three of us never outgrew our love for cars, even after Miller's dad taught us everything he knew. We all took auto shop in high school and I'm pretty sure O is the only girl to ever take the class. When it came time to start thinking about college's we knew our mom couldn't afford to send us. Atom told Miller about racing and how his brother made decent money. So Miller and I started building a car together while we worked full time that summer, I gave my mom what I could to help but the rest went to parts. We built that car from the ground up and by the end of the summer we were finally able to race."

Clarke was completely engrossed in his story, "So I'm assuming you won your first race."

Bellamy laughed, "Oh hell no, the engine stalled after the fourth turn. We had to roll the car home." He looked over at her, "But we learned what worked and what didn't. Eventually we started winning and each time we won Miller would refuse his share, he told me to put it towards O's college fund. My mom never found out, she thought we both got great scholarships." Clarke couldn't help but smile with him. "I managed to get a semester out from graduating before I dropped out."

"Why?" Clarke wasn't expecting that.

"Miller's dad got really sick and Miller was still in college and was on an _actual_ scholarship. His dad needed help in the shop and I knew he wouldn't ask any of us. So I told him I graduated early and that I'd help him in the shop until I found a job. This man single handedly made sure that both O and I stayed out of trouble and brought us into his family, and you don't walk away from family. So I started working there full time. The pay wasn't an issue, I made enough racing that it covered whatever his dad couldn't afford. Eventually he got too sick to come in, so I took over until Miller graduated." Bellamy shrugged, "I never really thought twice about my decisions. Eventually his dad passed and Miller got the shop, I guess even though things changed I didn't. I never left and went back to school. I stayed and helped Miller run the shop and once Miller got arrested he asked me to take over until he got out."

"So does Octavia work at the shop?"

Bellamy nodded, "Yeah, she works there when she's on breaks and sometimes during the week."

Clarke smiled, "Wow the brother and sister duo. I guess a family that races together stays together."

"Eh, kinda. I never wanted Octavia to start racing, I did everything I could to make sure she never had to."

"Are you still helping pay for her schooling?"

Bellamy shook his head chuckling, "No, she pays for it all on her own. We fought for the longest time about her racing. She'd come with me so I guess part of it is my fault; I mean I introduced her to all of it. She has an actual scholarship now; she races because she wants to. We fought for months about it; I wanted her to concentrate on school. Eventually she told me she was going to race and it could either be with our group or she'd go find another. I knew she'd be safer with me than anywhere else, so she races and I get to deal with her smug smile every time she wins." Bellamy leaned up and brushed his hands off on his jeans, "What about you? You're practically the exact opposite of Raven from everything I hear. How did you two end up roommates?"

Clarke laughed, "That's actually a funny story."

"Go on." He motioned her with his hand.

She rolled her eyes, "So I applied out here in my senior year of high school because I wanted to get as far away from my mother as possible. So freshmen year I get assigned my dorm room and Raven's my roommate. We actually hated each other in the beginning. I wanted to concentrate on my studies and she wanted to do every possible thing she could to drive me insane. Anyways, we both start dating around the same time; things get easier because we're never there at the same time." Clarke glanced over to see if he was still listening. He seemed genuinely interested in her story, so she continued. "This goes on for almost our whole freshmen year. We're two months out from summer break and come to find out we've been dating the _same_ guy."

Bellamy started laughing, "You and Reyes dating the same guy? Wow, now I really need to know how you two became friends."

Clarke stuck her tongue out at him, "It got pretty catty between us for about a week until we actually talked about it and we ended up bonding over our revenge plan." She looks at him, "So before you judge us on the next part I want to remind you that we were nineteen and women scorned." She waited and he nodded for her to continue, "So we decide since he was sleeping with us both at the same time that we'd tell him we were both pregnant."

Bellamy groans, "oh my god." His face goes into his hands, "I know the guy is an asshole but damn, that's brutal." But she could tell he was having a hard time not laughing.

"We each told him about a week a part and we only made him suffer for about a month."

"Only." Bellamy rolled his eyes.

"Yes _only_. But by the end of it we became actual friends and she ended up moving out of the dorms the next year and asked me to be her roommate. It the light of being the heartbroken other woman we forged an unbreakable bond. And now she's my sister from another mister." Bellamy laughed loudly and she could hear it echo across the lake.

He shook his head, "You girls are crazy, like bat shit fucking crazy."

"Careful, you're out here with a crazy girl in the middle of the night with no one in sight with a lake to toss a body in." She raised an eyebrow at him.

He leaned closer, "I'd love to see you try."

They continued to talk until Bellamy checked his phone. She could see his mouth frown in the glow of his phone screen. "I think we're good to head back now, I'll drop you off at your house."

"Okay." Bellamy helped Clarke off the table and she got into the passenger seat while Bellamy held the door for her. He came around and got in starting the car.

"I think Reyes is going to kill me." Clarke was about to ask why when her eyes fell on the time glowing from his dashboard. They had been out there for almost three hours.

"I think you're right." Clarke ran her hands over her pockets, "Shit. I don't have my phone."

"I know." Bellamy looked at her and Clarke groaned.

"I'm so sorry! I promise I'll shield your body if she comes out waving a knife." Bellamy laughed and she shot him a glare.

"I'm sorry but I just can't imagine you taking on Reyes." Clarke raised an eyebrow, "What? I've seen Raven lay out full grown men because they leaned on her car." Clarke couldn't help but laugh.

It took about ten minutes until he pulled up to the small house her and Raven shared. She heard Bellamy groan, "What?" He pointed to the car parked on the street.

"That's my sister's car and I don't feel like facing the Spanish Inquisition. So I think I'm going to do the most un-gentlemenly thing I've ever done and tell you goodnight from the safety of my own car."

"Oh that's fair; send me in there all by myself."

"Exactly."

Clarke rolled her eyes but she opened the door and got out. She almost closed the door but stopped and bent her head down so she could see him, "Thanks for saving me tonight, I actually enjoyed myself."

Bellamy leaned over into the passenger seat and looked up at her, "So does that mean we'll see you again?"

Clarke bit her lip and smiled, "Possibly." Bellamy raised an eyebrow but smirked at her which caused her to roll her eyes, "Goodnight Bellamy."

"Goodnight Clarke." Clarke closed the door and walked up the rest of the driveway and turned the doorknob and walked in. She saw two flashes of black hair and a pair of eyes glaring at her and Raven was up and rushing at her before she could move.

"Where the hell have you been!? I called you a million times! I thought something happened to you!" Raven was swatting at her over and over again as she talked.

"Ow ow ow! Calm down! I didn't have my phone!" Clarke was rubbing her arms; she forgot how hard Raven could hit.

"Yes I noticed once I heard the buzzing on my floorboard!"

"I'm sorry okay! Bellamy stopped and picked me up." She really did feel bad about making her best friend worry. Raven hadn't even popped into her mind once the car had stopped which didn't make her feel any better.

"That doesn't take three hours Clarke!" She could see that Raven was slowly losing steam which was a small victory.

"In my defense it took like a half hour to get to the lake."

"No it doesn't." Clarke looked at Octavia sitting at the table with her foot propped up on the chair, "It takes like ten minutes to get to the lake from the shop."

Raven spun around to look at Octavia "You knew he was there?" she yelled.

Octavia shook her head, "No, I knew he had her. But we don't tell each other where we go. We don't want the other one to come in trying to be the hero" she shrugged.

"Then why did it take thirty minutes?" Clarke was so confused.

Octavia smirked as she took a drink from her glass, "It seems to me he wanted an excuse to spend time with you."


	2. Chapter 2

Clarke had her books strewed out on the table while she nursed a cup of coffee. She would take breaks between the sips occasionally scribbling something down in her notebook. Her eyes shifted to the other bedroom when she heard the shower come on. She sat back in the chair staring at Raven's door. When she had come home last night she had basically skipped out on both of the girls looks and said she needed to sleep to get ready for a test she had the next day. It was true, she really did have a test she needed to take, it just wasn't due until next week.

Clarkes eyes shot to the right when she noticed her phone buzzing on the table. She set down her coffee and grabbed it. She saw that a random number had text her. She tapped on the notification and saw that she had apparently text this number before.

 **No worries, I'm glad you didn't end up behind bars the one and only time you left your house**

Her eyebrows knitted together before glancing at the text she had apparently sent.

 **Thanks for the drop off**

She shot glares at Raven seeing her friend coming out of her bedroom towel drying her hair. "One of these days I'm going to actually murder you for meddling in my life."

Raven stopped in her tracks having not even seen her best friend sitting at the table. "What are you-, oh." A grin spread across her face.

"Yeah, oh. No. Don't you dare smile!"

Raven's smile had turned into a smirk as she padded into the kitchen and opening the fridge to take a look inside. "I don't know why you're glaring holes into the fridge trying to get to me. All I did was thank him for dropping you off…. I just didn't specify it was from me. If anything, I made you look good." She closed the fridge milk carton in hand and taking a drink, "grateful even."

"How many time have I told you to use a glass." Clarke sighed. Her friend did have a point. Raven hadn't actually done anything wrong. It was a harmless thank you which was mild compared to the things Raven had done before when it came to hooking her best friend up with the opposite sex.

"Look we're having a cookout at the garage today, why don't you come?" Raven ignored her friends chastising by throwing out a different topic.

Clarke chewed on her lip, she couldn't ignore the fact that she did have fun last night but she didn't know if it was something she wanted to continue to be a part of. She loved Raven and supported her one hundred percent, but a shameful Clarke just couldn't stop thinking about the close call with the cops. Or the fact that what they all did was illegal. Maybe it was her prudish upbringing that caused her to be so averted to anything that remotely broke her out of her comfort zone.

"Geez, don't look so morose over the invite. You're not being marched off a plank. You don't have to come." Raven shrugged before tossing the now empty carton in the trash. "But the guys usually end up shirtless and playing basketball in the back."

Clarke's mind instantly went to Bellamy and how his shirt last night had hugged every curve of his muscle in his arms. Also, that as the night got a little more humid his shirt would cling to him for just a moment before falling lax. Her mind started thinking about how he would look during physical exertion… shirtless. When her mind caught up with her fantasies she felt her neck and cheeks heat up. A whoop across the room broke her from her internal embarrassment.

"Hook, line, and sinker. Your ass is going now." She gave Clarke a knowing grin before walking back to her bedroom and closing the door. Loud music followed not long after.

She groaned and her head fell to her book. Why did Raven feel the need to give her that visual? Clarke tilted her head to the side seeing the neon green numbers on the microwave. It was ten which gave her at _least_ an hour to get ready for the cook out.

\- oOo -

Her nerves were fizzling as Raven pulled into the garage parking lot. Clarke hadn't text Bellamy back, because honestly, she wasn't really sure what to say. So, if learning anything through her awkward high school years, she stayed silent. Once Raven cut the car off Clarke opened the door and had to pull herself out of Raven's car. She really did hate those god-awful bucket seats. She had talked her into buying them because they were the safest with their five-point harness, but they were a bitch to get out of.

"Everyone is probably around back already grilling out." Raven was sliding her phone into her pocket as she met Clarke around the front of the car. Normally Clarke would have taken her clothing choice from whatever Raven was wearing. But raven was still in her greased stained jeans and a tank top. So. Clarke opted for casual hoping it was that kind of occasion. She had ended up pulling out a pair of cut off shorts that had been shoved in her drawer long forgotten between the hordes of scrubs. She managed to find a tank top to throw on just before they left because the shirt she _had_ picked out was now stained with coffee thanks to an overly excited Raven talking about the new system she was putting in her car.

She heard the group before she saw them, full of deep laughter and voices carrying talking about the newest edition of some car magazine. "Hey!" Raven yelled out once they had come around the corner. Clarke felt severely out of place, like when you go to someone's house for the first time and they all eat dinner. Like meeting the parents, but you weren't actually banging their kid. That's what it felt like. She shifted uneasily and her eyes followed Raven as she slowly trailed behind.

"Clarke?" Her eyes shot up and she saw Bellamy with a basketball in his hands, shirtless. One of the guys hit the ball out of his hand and made a lay up. She bit her lip and smiled at his dubious expression, "Hey guys, I'm gonna take a five." He walked away from the makeshift court with a single basketball hoop.

When he got closer Raven tapped her arm, "I'm gonna go see if they need help with anything." She gave Clarke a coy smile and walked off leaving Clarke alone with Bellamy. Clarke felt panic rise in her chest.

"I'm surprised you came." His chest was actually glistening with sweat. How is that even a thing? When she got sweaty she looked like a drowned rat.

"Umm yeah. Raven invited me, I hope that's okay." she found herself chewing on the inside of her cheek.

He nodded, "Yeah, because I told Raven to invite you. I just didn't know if you would actually come."

She shrugged, "It was semi forceful, yet consensual." She watched his mouth twitch at the sides as if fighting to keep a smile off his face and she found herself doing the same.

"Well we've got plenty to eat and I plan on firing up the grill in a few minutes. I need to finish this game though or I'll never hear the end of it" He pointed his thumb over his shoulder to the guys messing around on the court. "But everyone else is around the back if you want to go ahead and meet everyone. O is over there and I'm sure she'll be excited to show you off to everyone." He give her a quick wink and a small salute before jogging his way back to the court.

Clarke turned the corner and saw Octavia and Raven talking off to the side and a handful of people sitting around a unlit fire pit. Octavia was the first to see her and walked over, "Hey babe. Welcome to Casa de Miller." She presented it as if she was a showgirl. She tilted her head towards everyone, "Let me introduce you to everyone."

"So, this is Maya" she pointed to a meek girl with brown hair. "She's Jasper's girlfriend" It surprised her that someone that seemed so reserved was dating someone as outgoing as Jasper. "This is Clarke."

Clarke gave her a smile and shook her hand, "And this is Harper, she's dating Monty" Clarke gave the girl a wave since she was sitting too far away.

Octavia pulled Clarke around the chairs and made her sit down before taking a seat herself right beside her with Raven taking the seat on the other side. "I'm glad you came Clarke. I like you, I think you're good to have around and I'm a _great_ judge of character." Her smile took up a huge portion of her face and Clarke couldn't help but giggle. "There may be a few other people that trickle in later on but this is the people you're normally see when we have dinners."

The group of girls fell into idle chat, anything ranging from Octavia finally finding her favorite pair of boots that her brother had hid so she wouldn't be able to wear them again. He and stated they were too promiscuous and if they ever got caught they would charge her for prostitution just on looks. He had received a smack to the face to which every girl agreed was deserved.

They ghosted over Clarke's current pre-med courses. She confessed she wasn't sure that's what she wanted to do anymore, but she felt pressure from her mom. They asked her what she would rather go into and she felt herself shrug.

"This girl can draw, and I mean _draw_." Raven gushed and Clarke felt her face get hot. "The design on my car, she draw that up for me so I could take it to the body shop."

Octavia's mouth dropped, "I'm so jealous! Clarke can you draw me something?" She stuck out her lip over dramatically.

Clarke laughed, "Sure. Do you know what you might want?" The conversation continued on what Octavia wanted on her car. It was then when the boys came around the building signaling that their game was over. Their eyes connected and Clarke glanced away and felt her cheeks get warm. She moved her full concentration on her conversation with Octavia.

After a bit the conversation fell into talk of cars or the boys and their cars and Clarke didn't have much to add to the conversation despite the girls trying to include her. "Hey umm, where is the bathroom?"

"Inside to the right to the left of the break room." Octavia said with hand gestures.

Clarke nodded and pushed herself out of the chair and headed inside. Bellamy was already at the grill cooking the burgers. She passed him and gave him a small smile before heading inside. Once she was in the bathroom she took a look at herself. The heat outside had some of her sticking to her face and neck. She grabbed the hair tie she had slipped over her wrist in case it got too hot. She pulled her hair up haphazardly while some of the baby hairs around her face she was forced to leave down. She took a quick look in the mirror and figured it was good enough. She was leaving the bathroom when she ran into something solid.

She felt hands wrap around her arms holding her still when she stumbled back, "You okay?" Bellamy's voice floated down to her.

She looked up at him, "Yeah, sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going." She mumbled and he gave her a small smile.

"It's fine no big deal, I was just coming in to get the condiments. Care to help?" His eyes felt like they were piercing hers. She found herself nodding and his hand went to her lower back allowing her to walk in front of him. She almost walked past it despite Octavia telling her where it was earlier and Bellamy's hand topped her shoulders making her stop and turn into the break room.

The room was surprisingly nice for a older garage and knowing the people that worked there would end up covered in grime at some point. She watched Bellamy walk to the fridge and he went digging finding your normal condiments and she helped him carry it while he grabbed some drinks besides what was in the cooler outside.

When they both made it outside mostly everyone had made their plates. They set everything down and both of them went back towards the grill to make their burgers. She grabbed two burgers since she didn't have much breakfast that morning. Bellamy glanced at her plate and she felt her cheeks redden, "Hungry?" she nodded.

"Finally a girl with an appetite." She gave her a genuine smile, "Learning more about you minute by minute Griffin." He walked away towards the table leaving her standing there for a second frozen. She shook it off knowing it was just teasing like everyone else.

She sat down with her food and realized she forgot a drink. "You okay with beer?" Bellamy asked her standing up from beside her. She nodded dumbly and he slid his unopened beer over to her before walking back to the cooler to get another.

All of the friends fell into normal banter and teasing. She was surprised the conversation didn't completely lean towards cars or racing. She was able to actually interject here and there with a comment of her own.

As the sun was setting everyone was cleaning up and Murphy went to light the fire pit. When Clarke tried to help clear Octavia kept slapping her hand away telling her that she helped set so they cleaned. So Clarke picked up her drink and walked over to the fire pit and standing beside it.

"So you and Bellamy huh?" A voice said from behind her. She turned and saw Murphy standing there looking at her, his eyes roamed and she felt her skin crawl.

"Me and Bellamy what?" She asked.

"Oh so you and Bellamy aren't a thing?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about Murphy." She shook her head and turned back around finding a seat and sitting down. She slipped her shoes off enjoying the night time when it got cool.

Murphy apparently couldn't take a hint and sat down beside her, "So if you two aren't..." he let the words hang in the air, "How about I take you out."

Clarke shook her head, "Murphy I told you no yesterday and my answer hasn't changed. I don't find you attractive at all and even if I did, you're gods gift to man attitude is such a turn off."

He gave her a nasty look, "Whatever." he took a seat ont he opposite side of the fire pit, so she grabbed her beer and took a small sip. Guitar chords spilled into the air and Clarke looked over to see Bellamy with a beat up acoustic guitar on his lap. Clarke felt her eyebrows shoot up, she didn't know why she was surprised. It's not to think she didn't think he couldn't play an instrument. It was more that she saw him more as a drummer type person. The one that gets hot and sweaty where the curls start to fall in his eyes.

Clarke cleared her throat quietly and tucked her feet underneath her. She rested her chin in her hand. She watched his fingers pick at the strings. Her eyes lifted to his face, his eyes were closed and she wondered if this is what people saw in her when she would lose herself in her art. The corners of her mouth lifted slightly.

 _Cut me up like a knife_  
And I feel it, deep in my bones  
Kicking it high  
But I love even harder  
You wanna know?

His voice was smooth like caramel, it was the kind of voice of an old soul. The type of voice where you feel it seep deep in your bones. His voice made her body involuntarily relax, it was as if all of the thoughts that had been running through her mind all day came to a screeching halt. She closed her eyes and her head tilted back.

 _I just wanna dive in the water, with you_  
Baby, we can't see the bottom  
It's so easy to fall for each other  
I'm just hoping we catch one another

Clarke opened her eyes and brought her head back up right and she had a smile on her face. She took another drink from her bottle.

 _Oh na na, just be careful, na na_  
Love ain't simple, na na  
Promise me no promises  
Oh na na, just be careful, na na  
Love ain't simple, na na  
Promise me no promises

Octavia started in on the chorus and Clarke was impressed. Her eyes flicked back to Bellamy and their eyes met through the flames. His head would bob as he kept playing but he gave her a lopsided grin. Clarke tipped her beer to him and a smile broke out on his face which was contagious and she found herself doing the same. She felt naïve that she had such a closed off view of what she thought people who raced were like. She looked over to her right where her best friend had a lighter up and swaying back and forth. Clarke felt herself laughing and for once being truly glad Raven and forced her to come to her race.


	3. Chapter 3

Clarke was laid out on her bed rubbing her temples. She had been studying for the past three hours and it felt like nothing she was reading was being retained. She couldn't even imagine what was going to happen when she had to start rotations next semester. She needed to pass her USMLE first and that thought alone gave her crazy amounts of anxiety.

"Hey Clarke I'm heading out—" She heard Raven's voice drop off. "Why don't you have pants on?"

Clarke didn't move from her spot on her bed, "Because it involves brain function and I'm currently tapped out. Plus, it's not like I'm naked. I have boy shorts on."

"But it's not no pants Friday, you're cheating" Raven joked. Clarke would have given her the finger but it just took too much energy.

"You're welcome to join me in my rogue adventure." She turned her face towards Raven and winked.

Raven shook her head and laughed, "Alright Casanova. I'm heading out to work on Bellamy's car if you want to join."

Clarke felt her pulse speed up a little, "I don't know Raven, I really need to study. I've got a quiz tomorrow and I'm already struggling with this section as is."

"Okay. Well I'm sure Bellamy will be bummed that you're not coming. But I get it." Clarke felt like her flip at the mention of his name.

Raven grinned knowing what she had sought out to do had been accomplished, "I hate you." Clarke mumbled, "You're dead to me."

"Happy studying." Raven sang overly cheery.

Clarke sighed and put her arm over her eyes. She'd been thinking about the cookout nonstop and part of her wondered if that was the cause of her inability to focus. She told herself that she wouldn't date this year because it was the year of her Medical License Certification and she couldn't afford a turbulent relationship, not like the one she had with Lexa two years ago that had almost tanked her grades her first semester in pre-med. She had found herself drifting off into her thoughts, thinking about what Bellamy would look like covered in dirt and grime from working on cars without a shirt on, and probably sweaty because the heat had been unbearable the last week or so. She felt her body involuntarily shiver. She really needed to bring her head back down from the clouds and concentrate on studying and possibly getting laid in the near future.

After three more hours of studying Clarke couldn't read anymore. She was getting double vision and her head continued to hurt. She cut her losses and closed her book. She needed to stretch her legs and do something other than lay in the same spot and stare at a page hoping that it made sense after the fourth time reading it.

She swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up. She stumbled a bit realizing that maybe she had been studying for longer than she thought since it felt like her legs were going to give out from putting eight on them. She started walking but not before looking like a baby taking its first steps for the first few seconds. She lazily walked over to the fridge and opened the door reaching for some orange juice seeing that both of the gallons were now open. She cursed Raven for opening the back up one before the first was finished.

Clarke grabbed a glass and poured some orange juice in a cup and leaned against the counter rubbing her eyes with her free hand. She really needed some sleep, she was exhausted and all she wanted to do was to skip tomorrow and it already be the next day. She heard the front door open and heard shuffling around. Here she was in her underwear and a tank top with someone in her house. This was it, she was going to die.

She heard a deep voice flow into the kitchen, "Raven I don't see it. Are you sure you even left it here?" Her heart skipped a beat while her stomach dropped. Bellamy. Bellamy was in her house and she was standing half naked in her kitchen and she could hear him coming closer. "Yeah, I'll look in the kitchen and call you back." It was at this moment that Clarke wished the floor would just swallow her up.

Bellamy rounded the corner and stopped dead in his tracks. "Oh my god!" He froze for a second before turning around. He had looked as panicked as she felt. "I didn't know you were home. Raven asked me to get her wallet while she fixed the computer on my car." He was stumbling over his words.

"It's okay" she squeaked. She cursed it to hell.

Bellamy started squirming and she realized that he was shrugging off his jacket and held it out behind him, "Here you can put this on. I promise I won't look."

She timidly grabbed his jacket and pulled it on. It was a little big and enough to cover everything she needed to. She zipped it up and tugged at the bottom a little bit wishing it hit just a little lower. "You can turn around now."

Bellamy slowly turned to look at her and she could see his face was a little flushed and she was sure hers was matching at the moment. "Clarke I am _so_ sorry. I didn't even know you were here. If I had I would have knocked. I don't know why it didn't occur to me, I didn't see your car out front so I assumed no one was home."

"It's in the garage." She said softly biting her lip. She was switching from foot to foot nervously, "And it's okay. I mean that's what happens when you do 'no pants Friday' on a Tuesday, right?"

She saw him trying to fight back a laugh and she could feel the tension slowly fading. "I think that's cheating." He smirked.

"That's what Raven said." She threw her hands up in defeat.

"So Raven saw you in your underwear. That's hot." He teased her and she shot him a mock glare.

"Ha-ha. Very funny." She put her hand on her hip and she felt the jacket rise with her motion and hike up. She dropped her arm quickly, "I should probably put some clothes on" She mumbled.

"Yeah that would be helpful." His voice sounded strained and he cleared his throat stepping to the side so she could walk past him.

Clarke quickly made her way back to her bedroom to put some pants on. Once inside her room and the door shut she shrugged off his jacket and walked over to her dresser and pulling out a pair of athletic shorts. They were still a little shorter than she wanted but she didn't want to keep him standing alone out in the kitchen by himself. She grabbed his jacket off the bed and walked back towards Bellamy. She held out his jacket and he took it with a small smile.

"Thanks by the way." She looked away unable to meet his eyes, "Not many people would have done that."

Bellamy could sense her uneasiness, "So what are you doing home anyways? Raven said you were having lunch with your mom or something."

Her eyes met his, "Oh yeah, well normally I do. But I've got a huge test tomorrow and I've been studying nonstop for the past three days. To the point my brain feels like I've liquefied it and I can't retain anything I'm reading."

"Well what if I help you? I can help you study." He was still holding his jacket in one hand and Raven's wallet in the other.

"Don't you have to get back to Raven?" she nodded towards the wallet.

Bellamy shrugged, "She can call me when she's done. It's probably going to take a few hours."

"How much are you paying her? She doesn't do that shit for free." She realized after saying it that, that was something that shouldn't be asked. She learned that a long time ago from her parents.

"A pretty penny, let's put it that way." He laughed. "So what do you say? Need a study buddy?"

She found herself smiling, "Sure, but I would text Raven if I was you. She'll come after your ass for changing the plans."

"I'm on it." He dug into his pocket for his phone and put Raven's wallet back on the counter, "I'll just wait in the living room." He walked into the living room and laid his jacket across the couch before walking around and dramatically falling into the cushions. She bit back a smile when his fingers started dancing across the screen of his phone.

She turned and went back to her room and grabbed the two huge books she was using for studying along with her stack of note cards probably four inches high. She walks back out into the living room juggling it all.

"Jesus woman." He shoots up off the couch and meets her half way and takes half the load. "This can't be your study material" There was a pause and he realized that it was in fact her study material. All 700 pages worth of information and who knows how many note cards.

"Yeah well, saving lives isn't a dick and jane book kind of thing."

He laughed out loud, "Okay, point taken."

They settle into the couch after Clarke sets everything out and Bellamy sits at the other end of the couch with note cards in hand. She finally gets situated and looks at Bellamy, "Okay shuffle them up and then hit me with it.

Bellamy starts shuffling the note cards and glanced up at her before going back to it, "I've got an idea."

"What's that?"

"For every question you get right you get to ask me a question, for every question you get wrong I get to ask a question." He smiled at her situating the cards back into a pile.

Clarke thought about it for a moment. She wouldn't lie, she did want to find out more about him she just didn't know if she was ready to share some of her skeletons in the closet with him yet. She nodded her head while silently praying she would get a majority of the questions right.

Bellamy was satisfied with that answer and his smile got even bigger. "Okay let's do this Dr. Griffin." Clarke couldn't help but scrunch up her nose at the title.

He cleared his throat, "While lying supine in bed eating, a child aspirates a peanut. Which of the following bronchopulmonary segments would this foreign object most likely enter? A, Apical segment of the left upper lobe. B, Apical segment of the right upper lobe. C, Medial segment of the right middle lobe. D, Posterior basal segment of the left lower lobe. E, Posterior basal segment of the left lower lobe." He just stares at the card while Clarke is thinking wondering how the hell anyone would know that.

"Probably E." She says absent mindedly picking at her nails.

"Probably? I can't let you ask me a question on a probably." He smirks. He knows she's smart. Raven told him as much before he even met her. Clarke was like _really_ smart. Bellamy knows that she probably knows this information but her mind is so filled with stress that she can't organize it all.

Clarke runs her hands over her face, "Ummm….Because the right main bronchus is wider and more vertical than the left, foreign objects are more likely to be aspirated into the right main bronchus." She peeked through her fingers, "Is that right?"

"Hell if I know, but it sounds right." He gives her a sweet smile.

"Bellamy." She lets his name hang in the air, "It's on the back of the card."

"OH!" He flips the card over, "Yup, its E. Look at you being all smart and stuff." He winks at her and moves that notecard to the back of the pile.

"Alright Princess, you get one question for one right answer. So what shall it be?"

She raises an eyebrow at him over calling her princess and he just shrugs his shoulders. She bites her lip trying to think of something to ask. She already knew some of the backstory because of the night by the lake. She looks upward almost as if she thinks the question she should ask will appear on the ceiling. Her eyes flicked down to his when her question finally came to her.

"Do you like what you do?" She pulled her legs up and rested her arms on them waiting for his reply.

Bellamy's brows knitted together, "Yes and no. I've always liked fixing things and building things with my own two hands. I think I've probably had grease on me at one point or another since Miller's dad came into the picture. But part of me wishes I had been able to finish my degree. There's not a lot of girls that enjoy a man with beat up hands." He lifted his hands up showing her the stains that were on them and the scars here and there and a few cuts. "But I think keeping myself busy works best with what I do now. It gives me a lot of freedom that I probably wouldn't have with any other job" he dropped his hands back into his lap. "Truthfully when I was in college I ended up in arguments a lot because I'm hot headed in certain situations. Being here and keeping these bad boys busy" he gestured to his hands, "has kept me out of trouble."

She found herself grinning "It's important that you like what you do."

"Do you like what you do? Well…what you're going to do?" He asked glancing down to straighten up the pile that had been messed up when talking.

The smile on her face faltered a little before turning into a smirk, "Hey I haven't gotten anything wrong yet." He tilted her chin at the cards, "Next question."

He shook his head smiling but continued onto the next card.

o.O.o

She wasn't sure how long they had been studying but at the current moment she was arguing that her answer was right despite what it said on the back of the notecard.

"No, that's not true." She was turning page after page scanning the literature for the information she was looking for. "AH HA!" She lifts up the book and clears her throat "Tabes dorsalis, which is a form of neurosyphilis seen 10 to 25 years or longer after primary disease. Which means that the answer is A, dorsal column. Not E!" She holds out the book for him to see.

Bellamy is laughing, "Oh I believe you, the answer is A, I was just screwing with you."

She dropped the book in her lap and grabbed the pillow beside her and threw it at him which with her quite horrible aim of course missed. Instead it hit the back of the couch and slid across the floor stopping at someone's feet. Clarke looked over and saw Raven standing there with her hands on her hip.

"It's been four hours and you know who's been without food for four hours? This girl." Raven points to herself, "So if you would be so kind to stop playing footsie for one second and give me your wallet Blake." Clarke pulls her legs back from resting over Bellamy's legs.

"Wait, what?" he was looking at Raven with the cutest confused expression.

"You heard me. Wallet. Now. You made me wait for food so you're buying." Raven had her hand out waiting.

Bellamy shifted and pulled his wallet out and opened it. She heard him curse, "I don't have any cash so just take my card." He handed his credit card to Raven who happily snatched it up and started walking back towards the front door, "Try to keep it under twenty bucks."

"No." She called out over her shoulder and closing the door behind her.

When Bellamy turned back to Clarke she was biting her lip trying not to laugh, "Oh you enjoyed that did you?"

A small laugh escaped her, "I'm sorry, but I did warn you."

"I text her!"

Clarke grinned and pointed to the coffee table, "It's not mine, and it's not yours, so…"

Bellamy looked at the table and then back at her, "Why didn't you tell me!?"

Clarke was in full fits of laughter at this point, "I thought I would see how it played out since you _did_ technically walk in on me half naked."

His jaw dropped, "You're evil." He pointed a finger at her, "And you're celebrating 'no pants Friday' when it's not Friday!" he added as an afterthought.

Clarke was smirking at him and just shrugged her shoulders, "So are you going to let me ask my question or what?"

* * *

 **AN: Okay okay, I had WAY too much fun writing this chapter. I know it took me a bit to actually get out there but I had originally planned to take it in a completely different direction but changed it half way through and honestly I couldn't be happier with how it turned out. I'm loving the chemistry so much it's just leaping off the page. Uh best friends in a past life, am I right!? Thanks to all that commented and left kudos on the previous chapters you make me feel so loved.**

 **So now begs the question, where does their relationship go from here? And someone MIGHT be making an appearance soon that could put this lovely duo at a fork in the road.**


	4. Chapter 4

Clarke paced her living room chewing on her bottom lip. She kept glancing at her laptop and would shift her eyes to the time on the microwave. She had thirty more minutes until grades would be posted and she was losing her mind. She had spent hours studying with Bellamy and while she was worried they wouldn't get much studying done he had surprised her and they kept on track. Taking breaks to get to know each other in between each question had given her the chance to get to know him and also lessen the stress.

But she had taken the test earlier that day and she had been losing her mind waiting for it to be posted. This grade carried significant weight on her grade. She jumped when her cell phone started buzzing on the table. She snatched it up and saw that Bellamy was calling.

"Hey." She answered.

"Hey, I wanted to see how the test went." His voice was already calming her nerves.

"I feel like I did okay, but the grades won't be posted for another thirty minutes and I'm losing my mind." She chewed on her nail as she continued to pace.

"Well, I'm off for the rest of the day. I can come sit with you until it's posted if you want." her stomach flipped.

"Yeah, that would be great. I'm losing it over here."

"Okay, I'm on my way." He hesitated, "You have pants on this time, right?"

Clarke felt her face flush, "Yes I have pants on." she mumbled and she heard him laugh.

"I'll see you in five." He disconnected the call and Clarke stood there looking at the phone her heart rate increased. She dashed to her bathroom to look at herself making sure she didn't look like someone straight out of the ward. She threw her hair up figuring it would look more laid back than the curly mess it had become after she raked her fingers through her hair one too many times. As soon as she had come home she had changed into pajamas and had stress eaten half a pint of ice cream. She fixed her tank top and made sure her pajama pants with llamas wearing scarves was fixed so she looked a little more put together.

Bellamy had apparently been closer than five minutes away because as soon as she had walked out of her bathroom there was a knock on the front door. "Coming!" She yelled and hurried over to the door. She swung it open and saw Bellamy standing there in all his muscled glory with a grin on his face.

"Lost your mind yet?" She glared at him and he smirked. She opened the door wider allowing him to come inside. He took in the sight of the laptop open and what looked like the school's webpage pulled up. "Wow, we've been reduced to stalking the webpage?"

"Oh shut up." she lightly smacked his arm and walked over to the laptop and shut the lid, "I have about twenty-eight minutes and forty-five seconds until they post the grades and I'm slowly losing my mind. This is a huge test and this determines if I move forward or not. This is what I'm good at, this is what I know." She rambled and he placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Okay, first off, you need to breathe between words. You knew almost all of the answers last night when we studied. I'm positive you did great and you're going to move onto whatever comes after it. I believe in you, you should too." he gave her a lopsided grin and dropped his hands. "Do you have a deck of cards?"

"Umm...possibly? I don't know I would have to check." She was caught off guard by his change of subject but his words stuck with her and they brought a calm over her. She held up her finger and walked down the hallway and opened the linen closet taking a look up at the top which is where they kept the small amount of board games they had. She saw the small box of cards on top of a wooden box, which if she recalled correctly was poker chips. She bit her lip and judged the shelves and seeing if she'd be able to use them to make herself taller so she could reach it.

Clarke put her foot up on the bottom shelf and pushed herself up and held onto the door frame. It made her only an inch shorter than being able to reach the wooden box to bring it down so she could get the deck of cards. She stretched up as far as she could her tank top had risen up exposing her midriff. "Clarke?" His voice caused her to jump and she lost her footing. She yelped and curled up expecting to hit the floor. Instead she hit something warm but firm. She slowly opened her eyes to see Bellamy looking down at her.

"What were you thinking? You could have asked for help." His eyes never left hers. She couldn't even read his emotions. Was he exasperated? Maybe he was irritated? Or was it amused? Hell she wasn't even sure.

"Umm…" She didn't have an answer. She could have gotten a chair now that she thought about it, or as he said, she could have asked him. She felt the warmth of his hand that was on her lower back pressed against her skin. It felt scorching hot and she was immediately aware of how close they were. She cleared her throat, "I don't really have an answer, truthfully."

Bellamy shook his head at her. "You are impossible Clarke Griffin." He helped her put her feet on the ground and she slowly slipped from his arms until both feet were planted firmly on the floor. "I'll get the cards, you go sit your accident prone ass on the couch."

"This is _one_ time!" She argued.

"You forget I know Raven and she's told me some stories about you." he laughed and reached up grabbing the pack of playing cards. His shirt rising up a little from his reach drew Clarke's eyes to his flat and toned stomach. When he brought his arms down, he was holding the pack of cards. Clarke averted her eyes and tucked a stray hair behind her ear.

"There's some poker chips up there if you wanna use them." she motioned back up to the top shelf.

"Nah, we're playing a gentlemen's game." He winked at her, "Go fish."

She laughed out loud and covered her hand with her mouth and tried to get her laughing under control, "Sorry." she bit her still fighting a smile.

"Nothing to get your mind off things like a game of 'go fish'." He tapped her forehead with the pack of cards and left her at the linen closet. She closed it and followed him into the kitchen where he had moved her laptop off to the side and started shuffling the cards to deal their hands. She walked over and turned the kitchen chair around and straddled the chair and leaned against the back of it while he moved a pile of cards to her side.

"Wow am I playing with a high roller?" He smiled at her and she felt herself smile back.

"Oh of course, and you're going to be sleepin' with da fishes" she tried her best at a new york accent.

Bellamy laughed and shook his head, "No. God, that was an awful pun."

Clarke gaped at him, "What! That was some of my best work!" She grabbed her pile and fanned it between her hands.

"That's kind of sad." He was moving cards around and paired them, if she had to guess. If he was anything like her then she knew he would be going from Ace to King in chronological order. She watched him switch cards around and he caught her watching him.

"What are you doing?" He asked suspiciously.

"Nothing." She looked down at her cards and decided she was going to order them in the opposite way, just in case. Yeah she knew it was a lame game of 'go fish' but she really hated losing.

"Were you cheating?" He leaned on the kitchen table and eyed her.

"I would never." She raised her hand, "Scout's honor."

"You were never a scout so that honor holds nothing." he continued to study her. She flashed him a smile and he shook his head and went back to arranging the cards in his hand. "Alright, since I dealt you go first."

o.O.o

They had finished up their game when she looked up at the clock and gasped realizing that they had finished playing ten minutes after grades had been posted. She pushed her cards aside and pulled her laptop to her. She opened the top and logged in.

"Grade time?" He asked standing up and walking over to peer over her shoulder.

She nodded and opened up the web browser to pull up the school website. After navigating to the grades section her mouse hovered over the link to check the grades for her exam. She bit her lip and froze. What if she didn't get in, what if she failed so horribly that they laughed at her. She felt a hand on her shoulder and she looked up at him. "You got this." he nodded.

"I can't look. I probably failed so miserably." Her chest was tight with anxiety.

"Here." He put his hand over hers and pushed her finger to click on the link. She kept her eyes on him as he looked at the screen. "Congratulations doctor Griffin." his face burst into a wide grin.

"What!?" She whipped her head around to look at the screen and there, in all its glory, sat a solid 98%. "Oh my god!" She stood up and spun around to look at him. "I passed?"

He nodded and put his hands on either shoulder with the brightest smile she had seen on him yet, "You passed."

She squealed and jumped up and hugged him as tightly as she could, "Thank you Bellamy!"

He wrapped his arms around her his fingers sliding into her hair as he pulled her close, "Anytime Princess." He dropped a quick kiss on the top of her head, the urge had been strong and he didn't know where it had came from. She pulled back and beamed up at him and the air around them was charged with so much energy. Their eyes never pulled away from each other. His reflexes took over and he leaned down and pressed his lips on hers.

She froze in shock but within seconds she had leaned into him. His fingers tightened in her hair slightly causing her to moan. The noise she made him want to back her up against the wall and kiss her until neither one of them could breathe. Instead with as much self control as he could muster he pulled away from her and looked down. She still had her eyes closed and her mouth slightly parted. He tucked the stray hair that had fallen and tucked it behind her ear. "Congratulations Clarke." He whispered huskily.

* * *

AN: This is probably LITTERED with errors and misspellings and I'm sorry if it is. I was trying to get this out as soon as I could because I know its been awhile since I've updated here. This chapter is shorter than any chapter in this story as of yet and I'm sorry about that but I figured this was the best place to stop. One, because it flowed that way, and two because I felt like torturing you just a tiny bit. I promise to try better at updating this but I've got 3 stories going right now and a few oneshots as well so I'm writing a little bit in each one every day, so bear with me. Drop me a line and let me know if you felt this chapter was okay. Love you all! Also, I've started a new story "Carry you home" and you should check it out.


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